How To Save A Life
by xXxCometxXx
Summary: In the desolation of the homeless in Egypt, the top world beybladers meet different children from all walks of suffering who still have hopes of becoming like them. Then they meet a girl who lives her life as a constant shadow - fighting for anyone but herself to achieve their dreams. Drawn to her dormant spirit, they all start to wonder how they can help awaken it once again.
1. Under The Waking Sun

_**The following said story 'How To Save A Life' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Onyx Azura, Adam Rivers and the mentioned children involved belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
The additional individuals of the persons Onyx Azura, Adam Rivers and the mentioned children involved autobiographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters autobiographies.  
The storyline of the story 'How To Save A Life' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'How To Save A Life' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

_**I, Piscesgirl09, do not own Beyblade.**_

_**I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade autobiographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

_**Any who do so choose to plagiarise, copy or steal will in due course be struck off my Favourite Author's list if you do so exist on that very page. Any continuation to carry out the acts to plagiarise, copy and steal after warning will in due course be reported to the site FanFiction for an act felony.**_

_**If you wish to make a review and/or recommend my persons elsewhere, it is asked that you please do so with constructive advice for reviewing the work of Piscesgirl09 and/or to ask my express permission to recommending the person of Piscesgirl09 elsewhere other than the site of FanFiction.**_

_**Please read all of the above with due caution.**_

_**Thank you for your co-operation**_

* * *

It was a hot afternoon in Egypt; the sun's rays beat heavily on the golden sands and the mighty pyramids. Our story begins in the place where homeless children and teens are forgotten. Mr. Dickenson and the Bladebreakers were on their way to this place, not knowing the desolate and depressed atmosphere that awaited them. When they arrived, they couldn't believe their eyes.

The buildings were only just better than what you would find in the slums outside Rio de Janiro – all the children seemed to have clothes that seemed to have lasted them their whole lifetime, when most of the kids who lived in wealthier countries were prone to throwing their clothes away after a couple of months wear. And not just that, most of the children each had lots of jobs to do: some were looking after the cattle, or doing building work under adult supervision; others were doing menial tasks like cleaning, cooking. Everyone here was working incredibly hard for the arrival of the Champion beyblade team.

But that didn't any of them being to stop looks of horror forming on their faces. "Oh my goodness..." Mr Dickenson himself looked astounded, although at the same time he wasn't that surprised either – as much as Egypt in itself actually made reasonable profits as a country, the corruption of the government prevented many citizens having their fair share of the money they worked so hard for. And this was the price they had to pay: labouring over time just to get at least one meal a day. Of course, Egypt was no exception – there were plenty of other countries who were in the same boat, where the people higher in power, who ought to know better and take care of their homelands, took advantage of the system and only worked to benefit themselves. It was greed and selfishness in its extremity.

Yet sometimes, it would only take for one to actually see a desolated country with their very own eyes to realise just how lucky they were to have what so many of these children could only dream of.

"What is this place?" Ray and the others looked round with their mouths hung open with shock. Even Kai looked surprised with wide eyes; where he lived in the abbey before was bad enough, but this? This was worse. And the fact he could only compare it to the horrors of his childhood made him feel slightly sick – he was definitely one of those who never took their privileges for granted, and he now made a vow to himself that he would work as hard as he could to help provide these children with half a chance of being able to escape the misery they faced day in and day out.

"Who are you?" A young male voice appeared out of nowhere. The Bladebreakers and Mr. Dickenson turned round to see a boy with dark Egyptian skin and bright brown eyes that were like round toffees, peering up at them - he couldn't have been more than 10. He was looking quite dirty from where he had been doing his chores and such like, but despite his grubbiness, he seemed like a very charming young boy. He had a very sweet smile that made it impossible for anyone to say a harsh word to him.

"Oh do excuse us, I'm Mr. Dickenson of the BBA and these are the Bladebreakers. I believe you have been expecting us?" Mr. Dickenson replied with a kind smile, the group following suit as they watched the boy curiously. The boy's face then split into a huge grin as he politely held out his hand.

"Ah yes, we've been expecting you sir. Not to worry, my name is Ardeth - welcome to our humble abode. Thank you so much for coming here." The boy indicated to the area behind him as the BBA chairman reached forward to shake the outstretched hand. The BBA volunteered to ask its top members (i.e. the top international blading teams) to come out to Egypt and help improve further the quality of life for the homeless children. Just by the 10 year olds' smile, the new arrivals were beginning to notice that the area wasn't as bad as it first appeared.

The paths were completely clear of any rubbish, and standing by the buildings was the odd bin which was battered in ways but clearly put to good use; in view was also some toilets, which must mean that there was a sewer system – a definite relief in knowing that the spread of germs would not be because of poor sanitation! – and there were also some showers attached as well; the cattle in their pens looked healthy and it was clear that the farming was working well for the harvest season soon coming up; there was also an electricity pylon in sight - good news for Kenny in that case, this meant he could possibly get an internet connection out here!

"Oh so you all live here! But how did you come to find out about us coming? I believe we spoke to –" Hilary started, looking slightly nervous as she addressed the young Egyptian boy – to be perfectly honest, she was very afraid to offend anyone here, because it was a hard balance to be sympathetic towards those who were less fortunate without patronising with pity – particularly as it was clear that the children around here actually seemed to have far more advanced life skills than she or any other wealthy teen her age would ever learn from their youth. The last thing she wanted to do was to embarrass the team by making an awkward comment about the place. Though she had a feeling she wasn't the only one who was having the same trouble as her.

"It's cool! We all know who you spoke to - she practically runs this place! It was Onyx you spoke to – she told all of us that you were coming, and I suppose you've guessed that we've been pretty excited ever since!" Ardeth cut across the Japanese brunette, answering her question – although that wasn't without being able to hide the sparkle in his light brown eyes as he shyly looked at his role models.

The Bladebreakers could only feel their hearts warm to this young boy: he was such a polite, well brought up young man – and the fact that he was so welcoming towards them made it all the more important that they wanted to help out these children; none of them could quite believe how much trouble everyone had gone to, and in time they hoped that they would be able to return the gesture with as much gratitude as they could muster.

"So who's Onyx?" Tyson asked, flashing the boy a grin as he stepped out from behind Mr Dickenson. The Egyptian boy for a moment was in complete awe – he was Tyson Granger, the World Champion 3 years running – stood right in front of him and talking to him! Words could not describe how humbled he felt being in the presence of what he thought was greatness: it was such a rare occasion that the children would even get a view of a celebrity hero, let alone be a few feet away from one!

Giving a nervous smile as he remembered who his idol was asking for her, Ardeth scratched the back of his neck. "That's her there with her best friend, Adam." He pointed to a young couple stood near the shade: one was indeed a male with messy blond hair, his shoulders slumped sadly as he looked at the ground with tears dripping from his face. The other was a female, who must have been the said Onyx – she was staring at her friend with a face that was blank, although her eyes were shining with moisture too.

"That young lady there? Goodness me, is she alright? And that young man too? Is there anything we can do to help?" Mr. Dickenson gasped gently, immediate concern taking over – indeed it was he that spoke to the dark haired female on the phone, and by the sounds of it, she was a very dedicated young girl who cared deeply about everyone who lived at this place. The Bladebreakers too looked over worriedly at Onyx, wondering what on earth had been said or done that these two teens were now looking as though the world was caving in.

"Don't worry about Onyx and Adam – we all have a rough time one way or another. They're the ones who have made this place much better than it was before; it was them that helped build us a home to live in; who taught us how to beyblade; who gave us all sorts of skills and knowledge; but most of all, they've been like our mum and dad to all of us...but they don't think they're anything special though. I wish they could see just how much they mean to us all." Ardeth gave a small sigh as he looked down at the ground, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. By the sound of his tone of voice, he wasn't one to go sharing this information openly – but then the Bladebreakers couldn't mistaken the utter adoration he had for the girl. Which only made the scene all the more poignant.

"Wow. They've got a lot of respect and love from you guys, haven't they?" Max stated softly, his baby blue eyes unable to stop flicking towards where Adam was now hugging his friend tightly, before staggering away with pain written in every expression of his current body language. The petite female only stood there silently, as though she had no motivation to even think – let alone breath, move or say anything.

"Everyone has respect for each other here – we all live under the same roof, we all share the same food. Onyx and Adam just do everything around here without even thinking about it, and we all try to follow that example. As Onyx always says: 'Life never comes without hard work and those who don't do hard work, don't have a life at all."" Ardeth gave a shrug as he continued to explain the situation, though keeping detail yet again to a minimal. But then he noticed the less than happy looks on the World Champion team's faces. Putting on a cheerful smile, he indicated towards the grounds.

"So, shall I give you guys a tour? It's not the neatest, but we've tried to spruce things up more recently – we even managed to save up enough money so we could decorate some our bedrooms and other rooms around here!" The young Egyptian suggested brightly, looking towards where some of the youngsters were having a bit of fun with the spray paints on the outside wall: by the looks of it, they were decorating the walls in graffiti style, but so that it looked very artistic rather than trashy.

Seeing that the subject of the welfare of the two leaders at this place was now closed, the team gradually resolved themselves to try and think nothing more of it. "Sure. We'd like to have a look around, wouldn't we guys?" Ray spoke up quickly, hoping to encourage the group to also respond to the young boy's request – particularly if they were going to be staying here for a few months; plus also, as said before, the place itself wasn't that bad. It certainly had a lot more available facilities to hand than many other desolate places in the world: the idea of painting the place to add a bit of colour was already something that clearly seemed to lift spirits for most of the children around here.

Yet what still seemed to make the place more tragic as the Bladebreakers and the BBA chairman followed the 10 year old was still being unable to tear their thoughts away from the memory of the young girl with long black hair, standing solemnly before the tears of her best friend as the wind sailed past them, staring out into the world as though when the breeze had caught her it had taken her soul with her. "This is amazing – the painting is absolutely brilliant! And the buildings are really well made. Did you all organize this?" Kenny asked in amazement as the young boy guided them to the lodgings where the team would be staying for however long they needed to be there.

"Planned it; organized it; built it! It was definitely more dull when it wasn't painted before – but then Onyx, Adam and any other of the people here who had a job and was able to work had to save up for ages to be able to even afford the equipment, let alone any of the paint or anything else to decorate the room. And even when we managed to get everything, it took everyone ages to neaten up the place." Ardeth replied with a shrug, running his hand along one of the walls, which was adorned with images of the Nile, the Pyramids and the Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Once again, the World Champions were rendered silent in awe as they examined the lodgings, admiring how much work and effort had been put into it. "Are all the other teams going to arrive soon?" He suddenly asked, perhaps shyly as his eyes glittered slightly with excitement.

"Sure, they'll be arriving within a few days – I take it there's plenty of room for everyone?" Ray replied with a friendly smile, picking out a bed, the rest of his team mates following suit as they started to organise where they wanted to store their belongings. The dark skinned Egyptian nodded as he pointed down a long corridor where there were doors opposite each other indicating the number of rooms.

"There should be – Onyx said that it's up to you lot as to how you sort yourselves out, though she recommended that you should probably stick with your own teams, or at least keep boys and girls separated…some people who come here to visit sometimes can get a bit curious." The 10 year old explained as he watched all of the boys turn to look at the only female in the group, who looked relieved, although slightly perplexed, that she would probably be sharing a room with the rest of the girls from the other teams.

To say the least, the Bladebreaker males weren't looking forward to imminent 'sleepover' nights where they would be kept up with lots of giggling…

"Oh and Mr Dickenson, sir, will you be staying with us for dinner?" Ardeth asked pleasantly as he turned to the elder, who had been standing close by with a kind smile on his face as he too had been quite engrossed with studying the paintings on the walls of the room.

"Unfortunately no – I have to go to see the rest of the teams and get them organised, then I will be coming back and then leaving them for the voluntary work" The BBA chairman replied cheerfully, checking his watch absentmindedly before his eyes widened slightly. "Oh my goodness! Look at the time – I better go everyone, or I'll miss my plane! Good luck, and I shall be seeing you all in a couple of days; give my regards to Onyx, Ardeth." He exclaimed, bowing slightly as he quickly dashed out to go and catch his taxi.

"Will do sir! Have a safe flight!" The Egyptian boy called out, waving slightly as he stretched to see the old man scramble hastily past some of the children who were looking up at him with awe – he then turned to face the Bladebreakers once more. "Ok guys, nice meeting you and I hope everyone is comfortable here. Dinner will be served a 6:30 so when you're ready come out and find me so we can organize introductions and where you will sit. See ya later!" He gave them all the thumbs up as he left the room.

The World Champions were speechless. Never had they been in this sort of environment before – where they had been welcomed so warmly by such friendly people whilst they were probably ignored or treated badly by people who were the definition of selfish. They were only sure that this trip was going to be an experience they will never forget.

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:** Hey peeps! New and updated version of the first chapter - just two more to finish and any other upcoming chapters to go: obviously under the story description and probably by what you've now just read, this is a story that's dealing with very difficult topics that are very real and drastic circumstances that are present in the Third World today - so if at any point you find something very upsetting, please don't hesitate to not continue the story or skip certain bits! Also if you happen to find anything offensive to culture/race etc etc (though I geniunely hope there is nothing of the sort in this story - I have tried to be extra careful!), please let me know and I will sort it out. Apart fro that, I hope this makes satisfactory reading and stay tuned for the updates of the next two chapters =) Cheers!_


	2. Sleeping With Ghosts

The Bladebreaker finished unpacking and made their way down to the dining area where lots of eyes were now staring at them in awe. Ardeth then appeared at their sides grinning.

"Onyx has told us a lot about the beyblading community; all the kids here now beyblade. Onyx is leader of our team, the Spirit of Ra." Ardeth picked up another little boy who looked like him, the boy stared up at them with wide eyes.

"Spirit of Ra? Isn't that the Egyptian god of the sun?" Kai looked curious for the first time since he'd been here. Although most places had a reasonable amount of history that kept him occupied – Egypt was actually quite amazing. He liked old legends, and the old stories from the Egyptians were quite fascinating

"Yep, sure is. Onyx has always been inspired by learning and since she was in Egypt, she says, she might as well put her knowledge to the test", Ardeth put down the little boy, "This is my little brother, Baniti! don't be fooled by the shyness 'cos he's one of the most confident boys around here."

"So another Tyson or Daichi? This should be interesting" Ray grinned, watching the said boys fume slightly as they went into a sulk. They knew it was true, but they didn't like to be reminded that they were probably the cockiest gits you would ever meet. Just then a girl also appeared at their side.

"Hey Ardeth, d'you know where Onyx is?" The girl asked a little nervously, watching the Bladebreakers with her dark, wide eyes. She'd never seen any of them before in person, and in truth – she was a little excited to meet her role models. "No, why?" Ardeth asked.

"I wanted to ask her if I'm good enough to make the team for the little tournament at Cairo" The girl replied, shifting from foot to foot. It had taken her ages to pluck up the courage to ask anyone. She loved Beyblading more than anything.

But Onyx had said before that she didn't feel that this young girl was ready to meet such high competitiveness. But since then, her Beyblading had improved dramatically– so she felt she might be in with a chance!

"I'll help you in a moment - oh! Sorry, Bladebreakers I'd like you to meet Sulihah, our training beyblader" Ardeth said smiling as he put her arm round her; Sulihah waved shyly as most of the Bladebreakers gave her a friendly grin back.

"Hi, pleasure to finally meet you. Hope you're hungry for some food - Onyx and the girls have made a feast" Sulihah smiled gently. At the mention of 'food' and feast, you could practically see the hearts shining out of Tyson and Daichi's eyes. The rest of the Bladebreakers rolled their eyes.

"OH YES! FOOOOOOOOD!" Tyson and Daichi began running towards the house, with the Bladebreakers and Sulihah following close behind, where many more children began to make their way indoors to get their dinner. For Tyson and Daichi, it was like entering the gates of heaven. For Kai, it was his very idea of hell.

"Here we go again, Tyson and Daichi beat us to the food" Max sighed as he watched the manic pair push their way through the hungry crowd. "C'mon, I'll show you to your seats." Sulihah laughed slightly, as she gestured for them to follow her.

"So the seating plan is organised?" Kenny asked, looking quite amazed at how everyone knew where they were supposed to sit – no trouble no arguments. AT least not from the children anyway.

"Yeah, Onyx wanted to have a mixture of age groups all over the place; however she said at dinner we should go to our age groups to keep it all in balance" Sulihah explained as they sat down, eyeing Tyson and Daichi nervously as Max and Ray finally managed to drag them over to be sat down.

As soon as they had their plates and cutlery, the two began loading their plates with an endless mountain of food. Sulihah watched in horror as she thought, _Hope they eat all of that…Onyx won't stand for it to be wasted!_

"So everyone has a particular place to sit at every meal time?" Ray said, slightly surprised at how regimented things seemed to be – but as he watched some children get up and switch seats as they got more food, he knew that actually things were quite relaxed.

In response to Ray, Sulihah nodded slowly as she began eating her plate of food. "Why?" Daichi asked with his mouthful, spraying food pretty much in every direction he could find. Max and Ray felt themselves grimace at the display.

"Um, no offence, but please can you not talk with your mouth full? Not everyone wants to see your food chewed up thanks" Sulihah mumbled, looking slightly confused as the rest of the Bladebreakers snickered a little. Kai smirked.

"Thank you Sulihah, now won't always have to tell him" Hilary put her hand out for a high-five, which Sulihah returned with a chuckle and seemed to settle down a bit more as she relaxed with the new company.

"It's called basic manners", Sulihah grinned, "Now the reason why Onyx said we need a balance is because some of the things we talk about are not appropriate for some age groups, if you get my meaning." She finished, looking towards the younger children who weren't much older than 11 at most.

"I agree, because we all need time to be with our own age groups just to have the time to talk about things that cannot be said in front of anyone else" Ray commented. Just then, Sulihah spotted Ardeth as he made his way towards the table, looking slightly worried.

"Onyx will not be joining us tonight so dig in" Ardeth stated as he sat himself down next to Max, and started helping himself to some very much wanted food. "Why can't she be here?" Tyson asked.

"Y'know Adam? He's decided to leave Egypt and go back home, he's already contacted his parents to come and get him. He'll be meeting them in Cairo tomorrow morning, so Onyx is spending her last night with him." Ardeth for a moment looked sad, but then seemed to shake himself out of it and continue with his meal.  
"Are they dating?" Max pressed on. There was a small pause as Ardeth cleared his throat, before Sulihah inputted, "No, they're more like brother and sister, it's what Onyx calls 'old devotion' ."

"So she must be feeling pretty cut up then?" Kenny said quietly. As the feeling spread across the table, you could see that now everyone was beginning to feel slightly guilty for not going to find Onyx and comforting her.

"Just leave her alone tonight, she should be ok tomorrow morning." Ardeth shrugged. You could misconstrued him for not caring – but on the contrary, he was very worried about her. But he also knew what was best for her, and what was best for her came first.

"How can you shrug something like that off about a friend?" Tyson looked quite indignant, looking like he was about to give someone an earful. But Ardeth didn't react at all – in fact he stayed very calm.

"I know it seems like we don't care, in fact it may seem like none of us care. But actually we do, Onyx just needs time alone because she will otherwise not do anything. She would just sit ignoring you while she closes herself out from the world. If you leave her to it, she'll come around quicker." Sulihah mumbled sadly, trying to hold back tears.

None of them had meant to look careless, and now she felt like she was being rebuked for something that was out of her control. But all the same, she could understand why everyone reacted the way they did.

Then she felt a comforting hand from Ray on her arm, looking up to see him smiling sympathetically at her. She gave a small smile back and turned away again to eating her food. Just as Max was about to open his mouth -

"Look, lets just leave it, because we've now established what's going so, we must move on - and Tyson just shut your mouth because enough has been said already without you making it worse." Kai snapped aggressively; for a moment after being stunned, Tyson looked like he was about to argue back.

But after a look from Hilary, he shut his mouth again. Now wasn't the time for a conflict and he didn't want to be part of it. The tense silence made everyone eat the rest of their dinner without uttering a single word.


	3. Trust

_**The following said story 'How To Save A Life' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Onyx Azura, Adam Rivers and the mentioned children involved belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
The additional individuals of the persons Onyx Azura, Adam Rivers and the mentioned children involved autobiographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters autobiographies.  
The storyline of the story 'How To Save A Life' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'How To Save A Life' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

_**I, Piscesgirl09, do not own Beyblade.**_

_**I do not claim possession of any individuals of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade autobiographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

_**Any who do so choose to plagiarise, copy or steal will in due course be struck off my Favourite Author's list if you do so exist on that very page. Any continuation to carry out the acts to plagiarise, copy and steal after warning will in due course be reported to the site FanFiction for an act felony.**_

_**If you wish to make a review and/or recommend my persons elsewhere, it is asked that you please do so with constructive advice for reviewing the work of Piscesgirl09 and/or to ask my express permission to recommending the person of Piscesgirl09 elsewhere other than the site of FanFiction.**_

_**Please read all of the above with due caution.**_

_**Thank you for your co-operation**_

* * *

The next day, Kai woke up with a jolt as he sighed and rubbed his face. _Why am I here? To remind myself how I was tortured at the abbey? How I was just like these kids once? Why do I care so much about some unfortunate kids who like to beyblade? _The thoughts were endless and the more they went on, the more he went on feeling lost. But then he could only think it was because it was what any decent human being would do – helping out those who were almost beyond helpless. As much as he often considered himself hard of heart, coming here was making him change his mind in that respect: because somewhere deep down, it was important that he was able to show these children that no matter how hard it may seem, there was always a way to make the best of what you had, and beyblading was no exception.

As he left the building to stand outside where the sun was just visible on the horizon in a bright orange and yellow hue, he saw something that he thought he perhaps should never have seen. Onyx and Adam were standing opposite each other as they waited for the taxi to come along – right on cue it did, not without beeping its horn so everyone within 100 metres could hear it.

The blond haired male turned on his heel to walk towards the car, his shoulders slumped as he dragged his suitcase and any other possessions in backpack, clearly somewhat reluctant to leave. "Adam." The dark haired female said, making him turn to face her once more, taking in her pale young face as she stared at him with undisguised sadness. This one of the hardest decisions in his life that he ever had to make – telling his best friend and former love that he was now leaving her tore him apart – particularly as he had promised her that he would stay by her side. But as she could quite clearly see, he just couldn't do it any longer.

"Knowing we are somewhere – near of far – means we are never totally alone." The purple eyed female murmured gently, her hair now floating softly in front of her face as a gentle breeze wafted by, the atmosphere almost unbearable as it took every fibre of the blue eyed male's being not to leap back into her arms and weep. Giving a small woeful smile, he reached over and pulled his friend into a tender embrace, her arms automatically wrapping around him and squeezing him a bit before she pulled away.

The car horn beeped again as the driver looked over at them impatiently from the driver's seat. Planting a small kiss on his cheek, the petite British girl gave a weak smile as she pulled back a bit. "Go. Live your life, and we'll meet again someday." She said quietly, her voice forcibly steady as she watched Adam pick up his bags and go towards the car. As he opened the door of the vehicle and pushed his things inside, he looked back at her once more before sliding into the back seat.

As the car drove away, he turned around to stare out of the back window and started waving, tears finally falling down his face as he watched the home he had known for over four years slowly get smaller as the distance between them got greater. Onyx did nothing but stand in the middle of the road, her gaze fixed on the small car now taking away the one person who had stuck by her side for so long. It was hard to see him go, but it was for the best as she kept trying to tell herself. He would go back to his family and enjoy his life as he truly deserved after the amount of hard work he had put in to making this place a sanctuary for those in need.

As she turned to walk off the road, she saw the bluenette there staring from where he was standing awkwardly to one side of the scene. Although mildly surprised she had not noticed him, she didn't really know what to think of it – as much as on most other occasions she would try to keep her sorrow private where no one could see it, she didn't really care at the moment. What could she say to it? Her best friend was gone, and now she was pretty much alone in a place that she would now have to run solely on her own. How could she deny that to anyone?

The Russian just did not know what to do or say. Why did it feel so...heavy in his mind he had woken up to witness the farewell? He didn't know either of the fellow teens and as far as he was concerned, whatever they felt for each other and whatever had gone on between them was their business. But at the same time, he could also see perhaps some tragedy in the blond haired male now leaving. Not just because he was an important part of the children's lives here, but also because it was quite clear that he had now left on a broken promise.

Unexpectedly, the dark haired female walked towards him slowly, stopping at a distance in front of him before she opened her mouth and spoke. "I'm sorry you had to witness that. I thought you would all be asleep by the time he was ready to leave." She stated in a murmur, though loud enough for the amethyst eyed teen to hear what she had said. Again, he was rendered unable to think of what to do or say that would ease the awkwardness of the situation – he could only suppose that he wasn't used to dealing with the way she was dealing with the loss; the fact that she was speaking so calmly and quietly without a trace of a tear in her eye.

Yet he could relate to how she was reacting to all of this: on occasions like this, some people like them would go numb. They couldn't think, feel, say, do – everything that had been their world would just shatter, and whatever pieces were left they could only slowly piece back together as they carried on as much as they could. Every emotion they would feel would be so tightly wrapped within themselves that it was like drowning in their own pool of water, where the life they once had was immersed in something so deep and seemingly unfathomable that no one could hear or see what it was they were going through.

"I guess...I wasn't expecting this either." The Phoenix blader replied lamely, his voice slightly hoarse as he cleared his throat. The purple eyed girl looked to where the sun was still rising, the breeze still playing and lifting her hair in all directions so it obscured some of her face from view as she closed her eyes for a few seconds.

"As much as everyone here knew that he was going to leave...I would prefer it if you kept what you saw to yourself...just so the children can get used to the idea of him being gone without needing to know how it all ended." She asked quietly, her blank gaze now directed back the young Hiwatari, who nodded slowly as he grasped what she was trying to say. Seeing that no more needed to be said, the petite British girl decided it was time to move on.

As she began to walk away, she then turned back to look at him. "There's a beydish if you want to use it, just down the yard from here...it's quite peaceful there in the mornings." She pointed in further down Kai's direction, watching his head turned and spotted the said object sat in the middle of a make-shift arena, before once more resuming her path down towards the river Nile.

The bluenette stood stunned for a moment as he watched the mysterious female disappear into the distance: he half expected her to be intruding on his business with being awake so early in the morning – but it would appear he had misjudged her on that one. Yet there was something else that unsettled him in his mind. Why had she and Adam ever come here in the first place? Why at so young an age were they out here on their own, with so little support?

He shook himself out of his thoughts once more and made his way towards the beydish, refusing to think on the subject anymore. But somehow, he couldn't help giving one more glance towards where a certain young girl had wandered off on her own, as though the world surrounding her was an endless wilderness.

* * *

The water was somewhat deep. Perfect. If she jumped in, she could completely submerge herself and just enjoy the feeling of it. There were lotuses and various other river flowers lined along the edge of the river, slowly rising to meet the sun as it got stronger in the west. Calm. Peaceful. Tranquil. Everything she needed to forget. Peeling off her jacket and shoes, Onyx stood before the water, dipping in a toe to check the temperature. Slowly she moved forward and dived gracefully into the water.

She sank into the watery depths, her mind immersed in everything that had been her life – everything she had seen, everything she had done, everything she had felt – it all flooded back into her mind, yet the cool, floating sensation that filled her head made it all seem as though it were a passing dream. As though she had lived another life.

Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes began to seem like hours. She continued to sink, her body turning so she was laid facing up towards the surface of the water, where she could see the bright light of the sun speckled across it. Her eyes slid shut as she then floated upwards...and upwards...and upwards...then suddenly she was yanked out of the water by a hand gripping her shirt, the light blinding her as she choked on a gasp. Someone was pulling her back onto the edge of the river, but she couldn't see who it was with her eyes shut tightly.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?!" For a fleeting moment of madness, the dark haired female thought it was Adam who had returned to her – but as she opened her eyes, the blurred image in front of her only confirmed that what she had so desperately desired was not to be: she could make out slate blue hair and a pale face hovering above her head as she sat propped in the mystery person's arms, her head swaying slightly as the water drained from her ears and she got her breath back.

"Kai?" She murmured as the vision of his face got clearer, his dark amethyst eyes burning with a fire that she could not put an emotion to. Why had he dragged her out of the water? She had only been swimming! How did he know where to find her? But all of these questions never formulated in her mouth as she allowed him to sit her up properly. She looked on in a daze as she watched the Russian shrugged off his jacket and put across her shoulders.

"Do you mind telling me why you were trying to drown yourself?" The Phoenix blader demanded, not quite sure why he was getting so worked up over what had just happened. After all, he wasn't even sure why he had followed her in the first place – but then something hadn't felt right when the two had separated. The way the purple eyed girl had dealt with everything so_ calmly_...it disturbed him. It reminded him of the way people would prepare themselves before committing suicide – there would always be that sense that they accepted that their life was a misery and that somewhere in their mind that the life they had wasn't worth living...that no one would care if they just slipped away without them noticing...

The petite British girl looked at him blankly, wondering why he had thought such a thing. Had she really worried him that much? She found it hard to believe as the young Hiwatari was never one to worry about anything – but then he had pulled her out of the water, and not lightly either. And yet he was still sat next to her as well. "I don't understand." She stated quietly, her gaze not quite meeting the boy sat opposite her as everything around them remained silent. Not even an insect or a reed stirred as the tension hung in the atmosphere.

"Do you even realise how long you were under there? It looked like you weren't even going to come back up again." The amethyst eyed teen's voice had now gone back to its usual monotone, although it was still evident to the girl he had just rescued that she had somehow caused a degree of panic. And thinking about it now, she could now see why – she had been under the water for a long time...in fact she had been foolish enough to start falling asleep underneath there – she could only thank the heavens that someone had come and found her.

"I wasn't trying to kill myself...or at least in my conscious mind, I think." Onyx murmured gently, looking towards the ground as though she were ashamed of what she had done, ashamed that she had to admit such a silly thing to one of the greatest beybladers in the world. Kai gave a heavy sigh as rubbed his forehead before moving to lay back on the ground, closing his eyes as he collected his thoughts. Perhaps he shouldn't have interfered, but then judging by the answer he got back, he wasn't sure anymore.

She wasn't mentally unstable as far as he could tell, but he did sense that she was becoming increasingly fragile. She had not struggled at all when he had pulled her out of the water; she had not protested when he had disturbed her few moments of peace; even now, she barely said a word when he was getting in her face, trying to find out what was going through her head. But then he remembered that her best friend had just left today. Who was there to comfort her? Who was there to help her get things done? Who was there to say that she could still carry on? No one.

"I'm sorry...it was a bit stupid of me." The dark haired female's voice broke his thoughts. The bluenette opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her. She was facing out towards the river, where in the distance you could see the town – the pyramids stood tall and proud against the golden sun as morning began to brighten up. Egypt was truly a magical place to be; a small bolthole of mystery and the extraordinary – there was so much to see that one could never be sure that they would ever have enough time to explore it all.

"Don't worry about it." He murmured in reply, keeping his eyes on the purple eyed female as she gradually turned her head to look at him. For a moment, they kept staring at each other, again waiting for one or the other to break the silence. Shifting, she crossed her legs as she leant forward, her fingers idly drawing into the dry sand as she allowed her clothes to start drying in the sunshine that was fast getting warmer and warmer. The Russian looked over to see what she was drawing – he was mildly surprised to see the symbols of the Zodiac that had been drawn into the floor, each one of them done carefully and precisely as they lay neatly in three lines of four.

"You're interested in astrology?" He asked, his eyes falling to his own star sign: the dark, intense Scorpio. Like with most belief systems, he was one of many who took this kind of art with a pinch of salt – but whether he took it as gospel or not, he still found it interesting; there were so many myths and legends that came with the history of astrology – Egypt itself had been one of the prime places where it had been practiced thousands of years ago.

Smiling slightly, the petite British girl nodded as she completed drawing the last sign, pulling her body back up to sit back onto her knees. "Most people used to tell me it was a load of rubbish…some still do sometimes." She stated with a slight shrug, her fingers lingering in mid air above them all. The amethyst eyed teen remained silent for a moment as he thought about what she said – as far as her words went, he could only gather that whatever people tell her she merely harboured in her mind. Whether she thought more on it was something he couldn't do without telepathy or her telling him every detail of her thought – both of those he knew would never happen.

"I take it you don't really listen to those people?" He asked, though wondering why he was now catching a sense of caution in his tone. Why was he so worried about what he said to her? It wasn't like he cared most of the time how his words would affect people – he just let them take it how it was. But then by the very nature of their conversation so far, they were delving into some very muddy ground: somehow, he knew that both of them had a past and plenty of secrets that they kept to themselves. There was a sense in the atmosphere that the two of them were constantly dodging around each other, as though inwardly they knew they had something to hide – even though neither were expecting one or the other to open up in any way.

Onyx still had a ghost of a smile on her face as she suddenly wiped away the symbols, leaving only a smudge of a handprint where she had swept the sand to one side. "Listening is one thing – it's something I do when people need or want me to listen to them. Taking what they say as though their words are some sort of value is another. When it comes to what people think of me and what I do, I can't say I tend to take much notice...sometimes it's the best way to carry on." She stopped abruptly for a moment, as though she had said too much. She herself didn't understand why she was having such a conversation with a complete stranger.

But then he was a strange one indeed to some degree: he would look at her and scan her, yet in a way that did not judge – it had been so long since anyone other than Adam who would sit with her and just took in her words. Even though she probably knew that what she said would be of little substance or consequence in the Phoenix blader's mind, she still felt she could say what she meant and he would just take it in without having to question her. It was in some ways a rare luxury in a sense, a rare gift.

The young Hiwatari could see that the conversation was coming to a close, and he did not blame the dark haired female for wanting to do so. The situation was slightly awkward now – neither knew what to say to each other, nor did they know why suddenly words they usually wouldn't utter were now forming on their lips as though they had known each other long enough not to determine or analyze a reason for why they worked the way they did on the inside. "We better get back." He murmured, his gaze now returning to the pyramids in the distance.

Nodding slowly, the purple eyed female kept her gaze fixed straight ahead as she got up and allowed the breeze to sweep her hair up again, the bronze locks shimmering in the sunlight as the strands waved across her face. "Would you like to follow me or are you content to walk by yourself?" She asked politely, her gaze now looking down at the fellow teen sat gazing up at her intensely from below. Without saying another word, Kai got up and stood before her, waiting for her to show the way.

Raising her chin slightly, the petite British female turned and started to walk back from where they came, with the bluenette close by as they continued in silence. Neither said another word to each other for the rest of the day, even though occasionally one gaze would meet the other and they would hold it for mere seconds in a mutual stare, before dropping it to continue as though neither could see why they were here and working for something they consciously couldn't understand.

* * *

_**xXxCometxXx/Piscesgirl09:** Hey peeps! New and improved chapter up, ready to be read - hopefully it's a lot better than the last one and it makes satisfactory reading; reviews and feedback etc would be greatly appreciated as always =) Cheers!_


	4. Stagnant Waters

_**The following said story 'How To Save A Life' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Onyx Azura, Adam Rivers and the mentioned children involved belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
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* * *

Onyx was very different from many girls her age. Although she got on well with most people, she always appeared to be alone – weaving in and out of all the troubles of life threw at people, dealing with hers privately once everyone was at peace, completely unaware of her silent sorrow. However this was not at no cost. As she had grown up, her emotions gradually became almost non-existent – mere flickers of fire in her eyes when someone hit the right nerve – but even that was on the rarest of occasions.

It was like her mind had been set on a permanent survival mode. Back when she lived with family, she always had to appreciate the little things in life in order to survive and thrive on the big things in life in order to stay strong: her brothers; her step-sister; her grandpa; her guitar; her music; her sport; her work and last but certainly not least, her beyblade, were pretty much the world she had. But seeing as half of those things were not here with her anymore, it felt like half of her heart had been ripped from her chest, leaving her with a bleeding hole that hadn't been mended.

But since she moved away from her previous life, she found so much more to live for and so much life to live in. The conditions each day are not luxury, but they are the ideal – perfect – for raising the family the dark haired female had worked so hard to build with the children she rescued and cherished as they grew older. It taught not only her, but also all of the children who grew up here, to appreciate what they were given and achieved in life – it didn't matter if they had little to begin with; what mattered more was what they did with that. And with each day, every child would appreciate the efforts she exerted in small ways and more; there was never one that was left behind. They all walked together and wherever the tide went, they always made it out the other side.

There were several people that the purple eyed female had raised that were now successful adults out in the real world, but even with that: they still came back to her whenever they felt they just needed someone to be there. And that was the living proof to the many sceptics who had visited before that even though these children were not as privileged as those shrouded with wealth – they could make it anywhere. All they had to do was believe.

* * *

The British female was now walking back to her home. _My home…_ She thought. Of course there had been times when she had wondered whether this place, which could almost be considered hopeless, was really a place that she found comfort. But then she only had to think of the life she once had and she knew that she was right. She'd never call her past life 'home' ever again; in fact, she couldn't even remember a time when back in Britain it had ever been home – the 'supposed' family that should have been there to bring her up had let her down a way that she could never describe. And now they were shadows. She lived in Egypt now – the place where she had been saved – ironic, but it was the truth. _Anyone who tries to break up my family – won't live to see another day…_

"Onyx!" A voice suddenly came up from behind the Winged Unicorn blader – she turned around sharply to see it was Tyson, a grimace on his face that was probably a poor attempt at smiling, running up towards her in a vain attempt to get away from the hordes of children who were now begging him for a beyblade match. As he caught up with her, she merely stood there and watched as he tried to regain his breath back.

"Hello Tyson." The petite female greeted uncertainly, before she motioned for the children running up behind the goofy teen to go back to the facilities ready for breakfast. She was slightly surprised at the overly excitable greeting, but even then, she appreciated that the Japanese Bladebreaker's bubbly nature was definitely appealing to the youngsters; it wasn't often people around her age or older who came to visit gave them the time of day. Mostly it was the unfriendly looking Egyptian police who came round to make sure that they didn't cause any 'trouble' – their glares were enough to scare half of the children into hiding or freeze with fear.

Unfortunately, there was nothing that Onyx could do except to put up with the treatment and hope that none of the children get into so much trouble that either she or the child would end up with a severe beating – the last time the police had to intervene with such harsh reprimand was when one of her now 8 year olds had been caught holding something they were going to pay for at the local bizarre, only to be mistaken for a thief. The memory of the fatal bruises that bloomed painfully on the child's skin as he screamed and wailed, begging for mercy, had never left her mind. But then there were a lot of dark memories that still plagued her soul…

The navy haired teen puffed out a breath of relief as he raised his head, his expression slightly hassled as he gave her a bright smile. "Morning Onyx! Look I don't mean to poke my nose in – I mean was just wondering because I've only met Adam for a day – why has he now left?" He started off but as he finished his sentence he gradually began to mumble as if he wasn't sure what to say for fear of offending the young female stood before him, who continued to stare at him with a blank face as she waited for him to finish his ramblings. She knew that the Bladebreakers had seen her and her friend yesterday; it was obvious when each time they looked at the two of them, they would swiftly move their eyes elsewhere, as though they were almost embarrassed to even ask.

"Adam…feels that it's time he went back to his family. They all miss each other a great deal, and living here is not working for him anymore. He wouldn't be the first to have left this place after so long." The dark haired female said quietly, turning her head away slowly as she closed her eyes, her dark lashes sweeping her cheeks as felt a slight twinge in her chest. The brown eyed male didn't quite know what to say: in truth, he wasn't one to deal with grief by hiding it. But then he had never really known it for most of his life – the loss of his mother caused him a great deal of distress when it happened. But then he had been too young to understand what it meant, and the pain only came when realising that there was no longer a gentle voice to soothe him through his nightmares.

And then he met the Bladebreakers.

As much as they were all faithful to each other, he still hadn't quite gotten over the fact that the likes of Max, Ray and Kai had left him for that tournament a just over a year ago; as much as he understood that they were all competitive and had the same desire to be crowned world champion, he wished that things had turned out differently in the beginning. Yet he then remembered how things turned out in the end, and he couldn't help but forget his anger – because by then, it didn't matter anymore. It was all about the beyblading spirit – and he hoped he could inspire that in the children here, who were showing very promising signs of it already.

"Aren't you worried that you might never see him again?" The Dragon blader asked cautiously, keeping his eyes on the petite female as she gradually opened her eyes to stare out into the distance. She only gave a hollow laugh as she smiled very slightly, shaking her head as though she wasn't quite sure herself.

"It might come to that. But we don't know until we try, and we're both equally determined to keep in contact – no matter how far away we are. I can only hope that one day we'll meet again in a place where we're both happy and making success in our lives." The purple eyed female sighed, her voice only giving away the wistful tone in it – she knew that there weren't very many other people that she could find that would ever match up to Adam as her best friend. And despite the fact that she was sad that he was gone, she respected his wishes and hoped for the very best for him; after what they had been through together: she couldn't think of anyone else who deserved it more.

"I'm sure you both will…it just doesn't seem fair that he gets to go back to a life where he has a chance and it seems like he's left you to struggle on your own." Tyson commented, his voice again tailing off as he lowered his eyes away from the intent stare he was now receiving. There was silence for a minute as the British female went into deep thought, studying the younger boy's face as he waited for an answer. In essence, he was like a child – curious and innocent. But then she only had to look at his features again and see that there was a young man maturing underneath, that there was an air about him that suggested he was no longer as naïve as he was in his early teens. _If only life could teach us not to be naïve without breaking the child inside at the same time…_She thought. The pair started to walk down the path

"We had our time once…I count myself lucky that in the years I have been here that I have had such a loyal friend by my side. But he and I both knew that eventually one of us would leave – it was only a matter of time before it would happen. And whatever he felt for me, I couldn't give in return. Although I love him dearly, there was no way that I could've expected him to wait for me." The Winged Unicorn blader finished her explanation in a murmur, allowing a rather stunned Japanese Bladebreaker to let it all sink in – in truth, he just couldn't quite believe how she just accepted her life for what it was. And he just couldn't understand that after the two had spent so much time together, that Adam would suddenly get up and leave like that. _But then she seems quite used to people just ditching her whenever they feel like it… _The young Granger thought sadly, looking at the quiet female standing next to him.

"But why?" The navy haired teen asked softly, unable to conceal the sympathy or the pity he now felt. He wasn't often one to go feeling sorry everybody – in fact, he was usually telling people to get themselves together! – But how could he ever say that to a girl who carries on without word or complaint about what she does for a living? Just like the rest of his team, he had met someone who was determined to make life for others – and that made him feel all the more willing to help her make this place into a safe haven for the children who needed to be heard.

The brown eyed male waited as Onyx turned her gaze to meet his steadily, her expression completely still – at this point, he was beginning to think that that she was far more like the Russian Bladebreaker than he initially realised. Her dark eyes seemed to be bottomless pools that seemed to drown anyone who looked into them; her pale face never showed anything other than polite interest. What were her hopes and dreams? Other than working for those around her to satisfy their needs?

The dark haired female looked out towards the dry sands of the Egypt under the golden sun, watching as the sky gradually went from a fiery orange to a bright yellow. "I wish I knew the answer to that question myself – I have asked it to myself many times. But then and again, maybe we will never find out – maybe we're not supposed to. And in any case, it doesn't really matter now: what's done is done, and we still have work to do." She almost whispered, her voice barely as her words seemed to float away into nothing. As the two reached the dining area, the Dragon blader turned back to the petite female.

"I won't tell anyone. And just one thing: can you promise a match for me? It'd be good to teach the kids a thing or too." He smiled and held out his hand, hoping that he showed that he was willing to do anything to help her and the children – as far as he was concerned, he was the World Champion and he was the one who had the duty to inspire those around him who shared his love for beyblading: so if he could at least do that, then that would be an achievement in itself!

The purple eyed female glanced at the awaiting hand and paused for a few seconds, taking a moment to read the gesture – she could see a bright light of enthusiasm in Tyson's eyes, and it was a job to keep her face straight. He was childish at times, it was true – but she wouldn't have asked for better when it came to dealing with the children; he was fun, cheerful and perfect for communicating well with them. She eventually allowed a small smile to spread on her face as she put out hand and then reached shake the other firmly with a strong grip.

"Very well. Now, let's find you some breakfast – I hear your appetite can usually speak for itself." The British female suddenly changed the subject, a slight twinkle in her eye as she watched the Japanese Bladebreaker flush sheepishly – needless to say, his reputation for being a bit of a hoover was very well known across the world, and Egypt was no exception to hearing that fact. Before he could answer, his stomach gave the loudest growl, which was swiftly followed by a chuckle as he looked up to see the older female's face light up slightly with amusement. "Just as I thought." She said, walking past him to go into the dining area.

"Hey Tyson! Come get some grub – the food here's great!" Max greeted his teammate with a happy grin, sitting at the huge table with the rest of the team and the children as the navy haired teen entered alongside the Winged Unicorn blader, his eyes dilating dreamily as he caught sight of the numerous plates and bowls set across the table. Little did he know that this was all the food he, the Bladebreakers and everyone else here would have to survive on until dinner. He made his way to sit down with the petite female in tow, who sat to one side by herself near the end of the table.

Onyx cleared her throat so the rest of the team were paying attention, distracting them momentarily from their breakfast. "I'm quite happy for you to have your fill of food to set you up for the day and to enjoy it with the rest of us. However – I might have to warn you that this food will have to last you until we have dinner in the evening. We unfortunately only have enough money to fund two meals a day, and none of it can we afford to waste either." She said quietly, looking at the stunned faces she got from the likes of the brown eyed male and the redhead and inwardly sighing.

"And another thing I won't allow is bad table manners." She continued, still looking more pointedly at the two hungriest people of the group as they blushed slightly. "Not only is it not pleasant to watch, but I also wish to have my children being set a good example from people who are meant to know better. Does everyone understand that?" The team looked around each other, making sure they all got the message before then looking back at the head of the household and nodding.

"Good." The dark haired female confirmed shortly, letting herself settle down to eat her breakfast with the team and didn't utter another word as she started to pick at her plate: despite her talk with Tyson and trying to accept it in her mind, she couldn't quite believe that Adam had now gone – it was all too familiar to her, the memories of him coming to the breakfast table with a wide smile on his face, wishing everyone a good morning. As much as she hated to admit it, but maybe the Dragon blader had a point. She had now been left to struggle. And that in itself shone no light for the end of the tunnel.

Then the door to the dining area opened to reveal a certain bluenette now walking through the doorway, ignoring the stares and murmurs that arose from the children, who were watching him in awe as he strode confidently towards where his team was sat. "Hey Kai – where d'you go? The food's great!" The young Granger spoke up cheerfully as he caught sight of his team mate, quite satisfied with the food – despite the fact that this was his first of two meals.

The amethyst eyed teen merely quirked an eyebrow and continued walking past his team mates until he reached the end of the table, before taking a seat opposite the purple eyed female. Neither of them said anything, but merely acknowledged each other briefly as they raised their eyes to meet one another's. It took a few moments for her to then notice that he only had some toast laid before him. _How..._ She couldn't quite find the way to describe what she might think about the small yet odd thing that she had just spotted. Logically, for a guy the size of Kai, he should be ideally eating more than Tyson.

_It's not like he doesn't do a lot of physical exercise – in fact he seems to do a lot more than for his ideal size and age anyway..._ The British female ran through the logical explanations for his lack of eating in her head: Stress? Exhaustion? His mind is preoccupied? She couldn't make sense of it – the Phoenix blader wasn't stupid by any means; in fact there was something about his quiet confidence that suggested he was far more intelligent than he dared to show other people – so why it appear that he that was not thinking about his dietary needs? _But should I really be questioning when and why he wants to eat? After all, he's the one that knows best about what's good for him...unless he doesn't like the food? _All this thinking wasn't getting her anyway, and before long she was mentally slapping herself for becoming so fixated with such a tiny detail.

"Onyx." The Winged Unicorn blader could hear the young Hiwatari call her name, forcing her to snap out of her thought process to concentrate on what he was saying. Though it took her a couple of moments in her brain to actually realise that she needed to answer him – particularly as he was now staring at her as though she was going mentally deficient. Shaking her head and blinking a couple of times, she shifted in her seat as she looked back at him.

"Yes?" She said uncertainly, hoping that her voice didn't sound squeaky or had a quiver to it. Just at that moment in time, her throat had begun to feel dry and hadn't realised so until the words left her mouth. Forcing himself not to roll his eyes as he watched the female in front of him slowly come back from her little 'daydream'.

"Why were you staring at me?" Kai asked while closing his eyes, hoping that his body language and facial features showed that he looked like he wasn't that bothered – even though, to even his internal surprise, that was not case. Because somewhere along the lines, his heart started thump slightly as Onyx's dark eyes had fallen on him: he knew she hadn't been consciously looking at him (the glazed look in her eyes was an indicator) – yet he couldn't help but feel that she was analysing him in a way that was level with how he saw the world. That she didn't see him as the great Kai Hiwatari, ultimate badass of the beyblading world and grandson and heir to a multibillionaire company. She looked at him as though it was just him – Kai as a person.

"Sorry...I was...thinking…nothing at all." The dark haired female murmured as she felt a rare but not so prominent blush spread across her cheeks, now hastily looking down at her food to avoid the intense stare that was drilling into her. The awkwardness of the situation was enough to make her appetite start to slowly fade, highly aware of the bluenette's gaze being fixed on her – but even then, she wasn't sure whether she was simply being paranoid. This forced her to slowly look up again into those amethyst eyes.

As their eyes met, the Russian was surprised to see no expression on her face – her face had within the few moments of silence merely returned to being as blank as a page with no writing on it. Whatever traces of embarrassment that might have been evident earlier were either gone or very well hidden. The purple eyed girl didn't stay that way for long before getting up to take some of the plates from around the table into the kitchen, her heart thudding unexpectedly in her chest as she briefly went over the moment when those fiery yet dark eyes had burned into her, probing her to reveal her secrets. Shaking her head, she began to make her way back to the dining table.

The amethyst eyed teen in the meantime had been left sitting in his own confusion. At first he got the impression that she would be more like his team mates – despite whatever destitution this place had, there was still a bright light of hope that seemed to keep this place running, and that could only have been achieved surely by someone who was optimistic. But then thinking about it, the positivity probably came more from Adam than it ever did from the British girl; whether he realised it or not, she was more like him. The only difference between the two of them was that he had a ferocity about him that rendered quite a few people to fear him, as opposed her spirit which was dormant - there was seemingly no fire to her at all, almost to a point when she may even appear too afraid to say boo to a goose.

But then the Phoenix blader looked at the Winged Unicorn blader as she approached the table and began to think: he had however also noticed once that those dark purple eyes had the ability to light up to a point where they almost sparkled. Just a small glimmer – but it was there. Yet that still didn't clarify to him in his mind why he was here, or why everyone who lived here he was fascinated with. It just didn't make sense to him: he always tried to convince himself that he didn't care for this sort of despair, that others worries and hardships weren't much of his concern – though since meeting the Bladebreakers and now this quite peculiar young girl, he was beginning to have second thoughts.

_What is it about her inside that she hides..._The young Hiwatari thought, craning his head to look at the female while she came back to sit at the table and started observing her surroundings. He then felt his beyblade warm in his pouch, Dranzer's energy now feeding into him as the great bitbeast started to intervene his thoughts.** She has more strength than meets the eye, young one…there is life inside her, but she has yet to realise** The Red Phoenix murmured softly, his soft voice a soothing melody in his master's mind. Frowning slightly, the stoic teen took his bitbeast's words and looked to see the female opposite him slowly take hand and put it underneath the table towards her trouser pocket. His eyes narrowed as he began to realise what his bitbeast might me getting at. _Another bitbeast…_

Onyx was sat listening to the chatter when she then heard the soft whickering of her bitbeast creep into her mind, bringing her attention back to being alert. _What is it Moonlight? _She thought, keeping her eyes downward as she fiddled with the metal sitting comfortably in her pocket, the material growing warm as the bitbeast's presence grew stronger. **The great spirits of the Phoenix, the Dragon, the Turtle and the Tiger are powerful indeed, my dear…their masters are not what they seem – particularly the fire wielder…I sense a hidden strength inside that is yet to be unleashed, and only the power of sun that burns bright here will bring it out of him…I'm sure of it…** Moonlight replied, her voice mystical as she watched her master's eyes flicker towards Kai.

_Maybe so…but I have much doubt that we will be the ones to see it – he is not one to trust easily…_The dark haired female thought, taking out her blade from her pocket as she brought her eyes back down to look at it, although seemingly unaware of a pair of eyes watching her movements like a hawk. **Indeed, young one…but then you two are more one and the same than you may realise…be wary, my dear – he sees more than he dares to let anyone know…** The bitbeast warned her master, sending a comforting rush of heat through the girl's body before going to rest in her captivity once more.

The purple eyed girl stared at her beyblade, not feeling quite sure what her bitbeast was trying to tell her – of course, she gathered that Kai was one who analysed things far more closely and thoroughly than the rest of his team mates, but would that ever be enough for him to go probing into her secrets? Surely he wouldn't be that interested in her to want to find? She just didn't know what to think. Perhaps he had guessed already, but how would she know? She could only hope that things would pan out smoothly without too much trouble. The bit chip in her beyblade then began to glow as she looked up once more at the quiet bluenette.

* * *

**_Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:_**_ Another chapter re-done! Hopefully I will get the rest done as well and the story will start to develop as we go along - ironic though, seeing as I've already edited the earlier chapters once already...! Anyways, hope you all enjoy it, feedback etc. appreciated as always =) Cheers!_


	5. Take A Breath

_**The following said story 'How To Save A Life' is strictly property of Piscesgirl09©.**_

_**The additional individuals of the persons Onyx Azura, Adam Rivers and the mentioned children involved belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters.  
The additional individuals of the persons Onyx Azura, Adam Rivers and the mentioned children involved autobiographies exclusively belong to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very characters autobiographies.  
The storyline of the story 'How To Save A Life' belongs exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of this very storyline.  
The ideas put forward to the creation of 'How To Save A Life' belong exclusively to Piscesgirl09: creator and publisher of these very ideas. **_

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I do not claim possession of any of the individuals of Beyblade autobiographies.  
I do not claim possession of any of the original storyline of Beyblade.  
I do not claim possession of any of the ideas put forward in the creation of Beyblade.**_

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* * *

"Are you not hungry, Kai?" Onyx asked quietly from across the table, looking at the virtually empty plate sat in front of him where he hadn't even filled it once yet. The Russian's eyes snapped open as he glared at her coldly – they she was looking at him as though she had seen past his cold exterior made him suspicious; how on earth could she manage to pick up that his discomfort of new surroundings stopped him from eating? Surely she couldn't be that good at observing people – particularly as the people she usually dealt with were the children around here. It wasn't like anyone ever seemed to visit the destitute place! After all, how was it any of her business whether he ate or not?

"What's it to you?" He demanded – seeing that he gained no form of reaction, he was then surprised that the dark haired female had not flinched at his less than pleasant tone. Though she did move her gaze down to her hands that were clasped tightly in her lap as she toyed with her beyblade out of sight underneath the table.

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, the purple eyed female was aware that the children were now watching her and the bluenette curiously; as much as she knew that he was expecting answer from her, she wasn't prepared to start an argument in front of the youngsters – she vowed to herself that she would set a good example, and she was going to follow that through. But that didn't stop her heart from jumping a beat as those hypnotic eyes drilled into her with such intensity...She swallowed. "Don't worry about it. I'm sorry to have bothered you with the question." She replied in a murmur, swiftly gathering up the dirty breakfast things to take to the kitchen.

For a moment, the amethyst eyed teen didn't quite know how to react – most people by now would be giving him a hard time at being spoken to as such, or at least not berating him for what he said but then his cold attitude. But instead, the British girl's lack of response made him realise just how harsh he sounded. Particularly now that the younger children were staring at him with wide eyes.

But what disturbed him the most was the way that her dark eyes remained completely switched off – as though there was no life in them; as though she expected to receive that kind of treatment from people – without any thought or remorse for their reaction. And thinking about it now, the Phoenix blader mentally kicked himself with embarrassment and frustration as he felt his gut twinge slightly with guilt. As much as his pride told him that he should just let dark haired female deal with it, he knew that she didn't deserve that – it was a simple question and she hadn't asked anything more, nor did she press him for it. So for once, his reaction warranted a proper apology.

"Hey Kai! Where did Onyx go?" Kenny piped up, catching the rest of the team's attention as they all began to finish their breakfast. Saying nothing in reply, Kai got up from the table whilst clearing his place, mentally cursing the unwanted attention he was now receiving . As soon as he finished cleaning up, he went to go and find the petite girl who was subject to his current thoughts.

Behind him he could hear Tyson going off on one of his rants. "Typical. The girl who runs this place just had to be like old Mr. Sourpuss – just wondering off without telling anybody. It's like she's a ghost…" For once on the last part of that sentence, the Russian disagree with his teammate.

* * *

Onyx gave a rare smile as the children gathered around her, begging her for another beyblade match – one thing she enjoyed about these children was that they were so eager to learn, and she loved being their teacher. Unlike some of the brats back in England, these children never took any of it for granted and were always appreciative of everything they had. No matter how small or seemingly unimportant it may be.

"Not right now. But I will do so a bit later; and maybe I'll try to get our visitors to give us a few lessons – just keep up the practice for now as usual, ok?" She said to them all softly, making her way through the bustling crowd of youngsters towards a rock to sit on. More often than not, the dark haired female found herself watching from the side lines – rather than actually participating. Nowadays, she couldn't summon as much motivation for the sport as the children did.

Each time one or more would achieve a new skill or move that she had been helping them with, she felt like she was giving up part of herself to make sure they got there. And never quite getting it back. Though she would never say she regretted helping other's pursue their dreams. "They really give it their all." A deep masculine voice stated from beside the purple eyed girl, momentarily startling her from her thoughts as she looked up to see none other than Kai standing next to her. Blinking a bit, she got to her feet and turned to face him properly as he stared at her.

"Yes. They do." The British blader answered quietly, avoiding meeting his eyes as she diverted some of her attention back to spectating the youngsters. Feeling the bluenette's eyes never leaving her as a brief silence fell upon the atmosphere, her gaze returned to him as she looked at him with serious eyes. "Why did you come here?" She asked bluntly, only her eyes searching for an answer.

For a moment, the amethyst eyed teen merely looked at the petite female in front of him as he thought of an answer, his penetrating eyes matching hers as he felt their connect none so subtly. Her question didn't just mean one thing – there was something else behind it that she was clearly looking for. "As in why I came to this particular spot or why I came to Egypt?" He replied monotonously, his stare never leaving her face.

He couldn't fathom it: he would see no life in her many a time he had seen her – like now, her dark features were still and unchanging as she watched him with a gaze so blank it was like staring at an empty page. Nothing. No anger for what he said to her earlier; no interest in the question she had just asked. But then he couldn't help but see that some of her reactions were so like how he reacted to people: never giving anyone the satisfaction of what he was thinking or feeling, only allowing people to get to know him if they bothered to stick around and find out. More often than not, he found people often got cold feet before he'd even given them one look.

"Both." The Phoenix blader heard Onyx answer in a tone that was so quiet he wasn't sure for a moment that she had actually said it. Listening to her talk was like an echo lost on the wind – there was meaning in what she said, but no meaning behind it. Swallowing, he closed his eyes as he again tried to contemplate his response without causing anymore upset – though he wasn't even sure she held anything against him for the less than pleasant tone he spoke to her in. But then that must be her edge: no one ever quite knew what was going on inside that head of hers. If there was anything there at all.

Once he opened his eyes again, the Russian looked over to see the children continuing to pour in every last bit of effort they were capable of into their practicing. _If only __**some**__ people knew just how lucky they are to have what they have…_ He thought resentfully of his teammates, who so far had not made a very good attempt at hiding what they clearly thought of the destitution of the place. He opened his mouth to speak.

"As to why I came to Egypt…I wanted to see what life where beyblading is limited: in some ways to see myself and others truly appreciate what we have when it comes to this sport. And yet along the way...I've also seen the true spirit of beyblading in these children." He paused, watching the dark haired female's expression twitch as her cold eyes remained fixed on his face.

"The potential in these children has made me realise that they are so much more determined to achieve their dreams, more than perhaps any other I've known, and will do anything it takes to reach them...Which is why for some reason, I want to stay and help them."

Taking a deep breath, Kai raised his eyes from where they had travelled to watch the children to meet the purple eyed girl's unwavering stare. Her face as ever was completely calm – but the way the sunlight caught her face seemed to bring a new serenity to her demeanour, making her skin glow with an almost ethereal shine. For a moment, she looked alive – gloriously alive. And then there was her eyes: they were no longer ice hard, but warm pools of purple ocean as her face lost its frown.

The bluenette forced himself to snap out of his thoughts when he realised he had been staring at her in a trance. "And as to why I came to this spot...I came to find you." He continued slowly, hoping that his words would be taken at face value. He caught a glimpse of the confused look that momentarily passed of the petite female's pale face – he knew most people didn't expect that kind of answer from him. Only he would know what it felt like to have most of the world look down at him as a cold, heartless excuse for a human – he was used to it. But he knew there were moments when people like the Bladebreakers often had to remind him that even though he wasn't the most sociable, they believed in him and the goodness that he had beneath his emotionless exterior. And sometimes that was all that was needed to show him that he was as human as the rest of the world.

"Why did you come to find me?" The British blader managed to find her voice, breaking through her company's trail of thought. She recovered her composure so she could focus on the conversation at hand – so far, and she didn't know why, the sound of the Russian's voice had mesmerised: each time he spoke, she would feel her ears perk up to listen to him, always waiting to hear what he had to say. But she could only gather that it was because she admired the stoic teen, and had a great deal of respect for him.

She couldn't think of any other reason why just by the sound of his voice that she would suddenly feel her brain switch on; feel her heart beat faster. By now the amethyst eyed teen was feeling himself starting to cringe with the thought of what he was about to say next. "I...wanted to apologise for the way I spoke to you at breakfast. Particularly in front of the children." He finally persuaded himself to force the sentence from his lips, although hoping that his apology sounded sincere enough – despite the fact he was feeling mortified at having to say it, he really did mean it.

If Onyx acted like she wasn't surprised, she knew she'd be lying to herself – because in actual fact, she was completely stunned by what she had just heard. The honesty and the clarity in what he said could not be faulted; she knew that he was sorry for what he said. But the young Hiwatari never apologised to anyone: it was too well known that his pride and code of honour were very important to him, and the last thing he would ever risk his ferocious reputation with was making himself out to be a fool.

Yet the dark haired female couldn't help but wonder how he could ever think that saying you're sorry makes you a fool. But then that wasn't for her to speculate, and at the end of the day she was grateful that he had nevertheless. "Don't worry about it. And I'm sorry for asking an intrusive question – in front of your friends as well – that was stupid of me. It's just...habit for me to make sure everything and everyone is taken care of." She answered softly, trying to ease the awkwardness of the situation.

Seeing that the purple eyed girl bore no grudge against him for his attitude at the breakfast table, the Phoenix blader allowed his facial features to relax a little as he gave a nod of his head. "Don't worry about it." He murmured, his eyes again straying to the surrounded beydish, now beginning to loo thoughtful. Dranzer again began to warm in his pouch where kept it attached his belt, clearly yearning to spin again in the heat of a beybattles. "You beyblade, don't you?"

Feeling her heart race a little with anticipation, the British girl felt her lips curve slightly and her eyes began to light up. "What did you have in mind?" She countered, a slight hint of a challenge creeping into her voice as she eyed the muscular male stood next to her as his lips formed a smirk on his pale face, looking at her intensely as he searched her face for any response.

"A beyblade match – if we can get through the kids first that is." Kai stated bluntly, though there was an air of amusement as his dark eyes sparkled daringly in a way that was almost playful. Raising an eyebrow, Onyx folded her arms as she dared again to look her companion in the eye and not flinch when she met that inviting stare. "And why would you want to challenge me?" She asked smoothly; although eager to find out what the well known Bladebreaker could do, she was also checking for a catch.

The bluenette shrugged slightly. "Must we all have a reason to give each other some form of competition?" He replied, his voice light as he watched the petite female begin to smile. As much as he wouldn't usually be one to give out challenges to people he didn't know well, he had a feeling that this upcoming match may not be one of those he would end up thinking was a complete waste of time. Spontaneity was never his strong point. But then how could he refuse a girl who was clearly quite a good teacher?

"Alright – you're on." The dark haired female finally accepted the challenge, starting to lead the way towards the now unoccupied dish – the children were now gathering excitedly around the pair of bladers, thrilled to see their role models finally face off against each other; all of them couldn't begin to express what a privilege it was to see the Kai Hiwatari in the flesh – let alone the rest of the Bladebreakers!

The bladers took their positions, preparing their launchers as their gazes briefly met: the Russian could see his opponent's eyes now twinkling brightly in the sun, her face slightly flushed and animated as her very being seemed to spring to life in the atmosphere of competition: the vivid contrast between her somewhat dreamy state and her now competitive stance would almost be startling if it wasn't for the fact that he was more curious to see her beyblading skills, she thinking likewise as she spotted his dark eyes also light up with a fire inside that showed how passionate he was about the sport.

"Ready?" The British girl called over the now cheering children, fighting the smile that threatened to break her face apart into something that was so much more cheerful and vibrant than what everyone was used to seeing. The children by now were used to their leader being a quiet – or stoic for use of a better word – individual; it wasn't in her nature to be overly emotional, although she was often sympathetic towards others.

The amethyst eyed teen nodded as he continued to smirk – since he made the request for a battle, he could feel Dranzer's hunger for battle, the metal of his beyblade growing warmer and warmer with each second that the fire bitbeast was waiting eagerly to meet the power of this newcomer..."Ready." He replied. Nodding, the petite female beckoned one of the older kids to come forward and referee; excited that he had been chosen, the boy leapt forward and made his way to the dish, though keeping a careful distance – everyone knew that this match was going to get hot – particularly as the morning sun was beginning to rise.

* * *

"Aw, c'mon! Where could he be? There can only be so many places he could hide, so where is he?" Tyson cried impatiently as the team went out searching for their lonesome team mate – by now they had been all over the accommodation, the sports grounds, even the kitchens! Of course, there was non-stop whining from navy haired and redhead members of the group about constant hunger, which by now was starting to irritate the rest of the members of the group. _Let's hope we find him soon so we don't have to listen to this anymore…_Ray felt himself cringe as the kids nearby would stop and stare at the two teens as though they were mad.

"Hey! There's a big group of kids over there – I wonder what's going on?" Max suddenly spoke up, pointing towards the indeed quite large crowd of children now gathering around, cheering loudly as more came running to see what was going on. Ardeth soon came by with a grin on his face, laughing at the evidently confused looks on the team's faces.

"If you're looking for that team mate of yours, you might have to wait a while." The dark skinned male chuckled, indicating towards the still growing throng of spectators that were clearly watching something exciting – which could only mean one thing. The Chinese and American bladers exchanged a slightly stunned look as realisation fell upon the team – could Kai possibly be now taking part in a beyblade match?! But who with? He rarely fought with children as this age unless they met his standards! Unless it was someone else…

"Let's go and look! I wanna see who Kai's going up against!" Daichi jumped excitedly, running towards the crowd with Tyson close in toe. Sighing exasperatedly, Kenny ran after them, muttering something along the lines of 'Oh here we go again…'

The Bladebreakers pushed through the never-ending stream of youngsters – standing either side of the dish was none other than their team mate and a certain dark haired female. "Onyx?!" The boys exclaimed, not quite believing it was she who was now a new opponent they had to face – and judging by the way the two blader's were battling ferociously, she was actually pretty good!

All of the children were cheering for the pair, urging them to carry on. The bluenette looked up and for a moment watched the purple eyed female stood across from him: it was hard to believe she was the same person he had met only yesterday – she was now smiling, even chuckling occasionally as he would send his blade flying towards hers. He was inviting her into a chase - and seeing that he was only too willing to show her how the champion's of the beyblading world played their game – she knew she couldn't refuse.

But she wouldn't let him get away with drawing her in that easily. Her blade suddenly moved from behind Dranzer and met it at the side, allowing only an inch between the two as hers remained nearer the edge of the dish. The Russian smirked – as far as he could see, she had left herself completely open for the attack; it would only take a little nudge, and her could easily topple her out of the dish. As his blade moved closer however, he then caught the look of mischief on his opponent's face.

"Perfect...you just completely walked into my trap."

Amethyst eyes widened as her blade moved swiftly to one side, his beyblade now raring towards the edge of the dish before it was then propelled into the air. Everyone in sight gasped as his blade flew upwards – the moment the British female was waiting. "Now Moonlight! Flaming Sky!" She cried, blue flames suddenly erupting from her blade as she closed her eyes and allowed the power inside her to fuel her blade.

The Phoenix blader could only watch in awe as everything around his opponent began to glow with a bright ethereal light: from the flames rose a white winged unicorn, a creature that was so awesome in its power that nothing could shroud its light. "Finish it!" Onyx commanded her beyblade, sending it straight towards the dark blue beyblade that was now falling through the air.

Narrowing his eyes with sudden determination, the young Hiwatari gathered himself together and went in for the attack. "Dranzer! Blazing Gigs!" He roared, unleashing the magnificent phoenix from it's captivity to rise in bright red flames. The dark haired female watched as her opponent called forth his bitbeast, her lips curved into a small smile as she was now finally facing against the legendary creature for the first time. _Give me everything you've got, Great Phoenix..._ Fire clashed with fire and the world was suddenly ablaze with heat and light.

Everyone who was watching the battle were now yelling, trying to take cover somewhere from the power waves that were ringing across the land with such great force that most couldn't even remain standing. As the flames finally died down, the bright Egyptian sunshine could gleam through the clouds of smoke rising from the beydish: the Bladebreakers stood stunned as they waited for the clouds of heavy air to clear – what a battle! The explosion of fire had been nothing they had seen before, and it had been so wonderful to watch that the children were already children before the two bladers could even be seen!

Hilary gasped as they caught sight of Kai first, standing tall with his trademark scarf floating gently on the breeze as his pale face came into view. Next came the purple eyed female, who too was still standing, despite the mind-blowing power of the battle. The pair stood watching each other as they continued to wait for the dust to clear around the beydish – lying in the centre of the now cracked beydish were two beyblades. Neither were spinning.

"Does this mean it's a draw?"

The Bladebreakers couldn't believe it: for the first time in a long time, their team mate had drawn with someone he had battled for the first time – and that wasn't without the damage either! Both blades were looking slightly worn; chips and melted metal could be seen lying around the dish as they laid there untouched. The opponents finally looked at each other properly – they didn't have to say anything. It had been an excellent battle, and both of them were glad to have battled against each other.

Despite the moment, all of the children continued to cheer loudly as they threw their congratulations and praises at the pair – to them, this had been the experience of a lifetime, and it would be one that they would surely never forget. Breaking the tension, the bluenette bent down and picked up both beyblades before walking over to the petite female. "I'll be looking forward to our rematch." He stated, his voice now sounding less harsh than it first sounded as he allowed his usually immobile face to break with a rare smile, placing the blade firmly into her awaiting hand.

The British girl returned the gesture with a small smile as she gripped her beyblade tightly. "Indeed I shall, too." She replied, bowing her head in acknowledgment as she slowly turned to deal with the children who were now run wild with excitement. The Russian watched her leave, and then looked down to his battered Dranzer – the warmth of the phoenix surged through his fingers. Today had shown him something that had never occurred to him before – that the power of the bitbeast reflected the true spirit of the beyblader.

And remembering the heavenly heat that Onyx had been able to conjure from the beauty of the winged unicorn, he had a strange but certain feeling that there was more yet that he would see from this intriguing young girl.

* * *

_**Piscesgirl09/xXxCometxXx:** Oh my days - at last! I have finally completed this bloody chapter -.-;;; Crikey, I used to think 100 words was difficult when I was young - if only I knew that over 4000 was actually the real deal! Sorry to my fans for taking SOOOO long to update this story - I hadn't abandoned it at all, and I have taken as much care as I do with my other stories to keep this one going - though I will definitely be making improvements to the other ones in due course, hopefully! Thanks for reading, and I hope this is a nice long one to keep you all going =) Cheers!_


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